Pollinate Your Community - CRP rocks Ashland Cherryland over the Weekend!

Photos by Eric Arnold

Last Saturday, the Community Rejuvenation Project artists descended on an unincorporated district of Hayward like a swarm of bees. Ashland and Cherryland are two of the most unregulated districts in the Alameda county. Not recognized as sovereign cities or as a part of the city of Hayward, the area has become a dumping ground for both criminals and corporations. Their incorporated status has left Ashland and Cherryland without government spokespeople to stand up and advocate for the area. Now local residents have decided to take measures into their own hands. This past weekend, the Ashland Cherryland Garden and Arts Network (ACGAN) organized a day of action in concert with a series of national events put on by 350.org, including the painting of a mural on a fence located at one of Ashland's most notorious corners, Laurel and Princeton. CRP artists Beats 737, Pancho Pescador, Mike 360, and Desi W.O.M.E, along with photographer, Eric Arnold and new intern, Seongeun Bak created an elaborate piece dedicated to bees and their role as pollinators. Their message to "Pollinate Your Community" reflects the goal of spreading gardens, arts and new life through Ashland. Local resident, event organizer and fence owner, Susan Beck made pancakes for the crew, who had to return Sunday morning to finalize some minor touch-ups. She told the artists that drivers were always slowing down to check out the new work and that everyone who passed by had nothing but positive responses to the new work. Look forward to new artwork in the surround gardens throughout the area!
 Listen to the story below:
  Ashland Cherryland KPFA interview by CRP Bay Area
 From the KPFA Weekend News

Ashland, Cherryland March Towards a Greener Community

Story and Video by Analisa Harangozo for the San Lorenzo Patch

A crowd of over 30 people from Ashland, Cherryland and nearby communities marched down East 14^th Street on Saturday, rallying for a greener, safer neighborhood.

It was one of thousands of events put on around the world as part of 350.org’s Moving Planet Movement, a grassroots initiative aimed at solving the climate crisis.

The Ashland Cherryland Garden & Arts Network hosted the local day-long event. Members said their goal was to educate the community on finding alternatives to using fossil fuels.

The rally was also joined by Union City's Ollin Anahuac Aztec Dance Group and was funded by Supervisor Nate Miley and Mercy Housing.

The parade down East 14th Street began at Ashland’s Jack Holland Sr. Park and ended at an empty lot on the corner of Mission Boulevard and Mattox Road. The site is in the process of becoming a co-operative neighborhood marketplace and has gained support from Supervisor Miley.

There’s also discussion of possibly relocating the Cherryland Community Center from Hampton Road to the site of the future marketplace.

Mandela Marketplace, a non-profit promoting co-op food enterprises, will help supply some of the produce. However, many items will come from farms and gardens in Ashland and Cherryland.

For those living in these communities, the marketplace will be a resolution to their long-time struggle of being a food desert,organizers say.

Currently, over 1,500 people living in these areas have low access to fresh, affordable produce, according to The Food Desert Locator, a data provider supported by multiple government agencies. 

Also among that population, 4.1 percent of housing units have low access and live without a car.

Not only would the martketplace provide these people with produce, it would be community-driven, placing Ashland and Cherryland residents in the forefront of revitalizing their local economy. 

The event ended with a potluck dinner at one of Cherryland’s community gardens. ACGAN member Susan Beck offered her front yard fence as a canvas for a bee-inspired mural completed that same day.

The Oakland-based organization Community Rejuvenation Project painted the mural to serve as an artistic reminder how these gardens have been pollinating positive change among the community.

Check out the video above to see all the components of the event and how they unfolded throughout the day.